Ghosts and other supernatural phenomena are widely represented throughout modern culture. They can be found in any number of entertainment, commercial, and other contexts, but popular media or commodified representations of ghosts can be quite different from the beliefs people hold about them, based on tradition or direct experience. Personal belief and cultural tradition on the one hand, and popular and commercial representation on the other, nevertheless continually feed each other. They frequently share space in how people think about the supernatural. In Haunting Experiences, three well-known folklorists seek to broaden the discussion of ghost lore by examining it from a variety of angles in various modern contexts. Diane E. Goldstein, Sylvia Ann Grider, and Jeannie Banks Thomas take ghosts seriously, as they draw on contemporary scholarship that emphasizes both the basis of belief in experience (rather than mere fantasy) and the usefulness of ghost stories. They look closely at the narrative role of such lore in matters such as socialization and gender. And they unravel the complex mix of mass media, commodification, and popular culture that today puts old spirits into new contexts.

A fortuneteller hires a detective to find her missing son in this existential noir mystery. A startling clue leads the detective into the underground worlds of fortunetelling and "pleasure" tours. The missing son reminds him of an old case which ended badly, one he is compelled to reopen. As he investigates both, he finds his life becoming more ghostlike. Todd Shimoda has published four novels on Japanese themes. The books have been translated into six languages with over one hundred thousand copies printed worldwide. Todd was also the recipient of the Hawaii Literary Arts Council's 2010 Elliot Cades Award for Literature.

When Kathy Berry joins a TV news crew and paranormal investigators as the team's impartial observer an overnight stay in the Goldfield Hotel shatters her beliefs that the paranormal is evil or figments of the weak-minded. In the Goldfield, eerie activity confronts her on every floor, and as she hears, feels and sees spirits, she must face her years-long denial that she possesses a sensitive's gifts.

My Journey down the Reincarnation Highway is the first book of the author’s four book spiritual memoir series. In this personal account, Frank Mares details how he discovered the fact of reincarnation and explores what he did in some of his prior lives. More people than you would believe have prior life memories. This book tells how the author acquired psychic ability in his middle age. With this new gift, he recovered facts about nine of his prior lives, most of which involved violent, bloody deaths. The most recent life was that of a young German Wehrmacht sergeant who was ambushed and killed by Russians during the night of May 1, 1944, in a dark Estonian farmhouse. Not being satisfied with just discovering his past lives, Mares goes on a spiritual mission to find out why he kept dying violently. The answers do not come easily, but by using a team of three world class psychics he eventually tracks down the shocking reason for all his brutal deaths. The psychic team finds that within the soul of this normal small businessman resides a brutal, stone-cold killer from the 1600s who surprisingly was the revered founder of a gentile noble family. As part of his souls continuing quest for redemption, Mares hopes to salvage the dark time in his soul’s past into something that could help others today. His experiences show that death is only a transition phase, and that it should not be feared. His book also reveals that reincarnation is actually a well-designed, organized system that allows souls to learn personalized life lessons over a surprising number of lives. If you read this book, you will never look at life (and death) in the same way again.

Star of Kindred Spirits and paranormal investigator Amy Bruni shares stories from her years of experiences with ghosts, organized around thirteen truths that guide her approach to the supernatural. Amy Bruni, co-star of Kindred Spirits and one of the world's leading paranormal investigators, has learned a lot about ghosts over her years of research and first-hand experience. Now, in Life with the Afterlife, she shares the insight she has gleaned and how it has shaped her unique approach to interacting with the spirits of the dead and those who encounter them. From her earliest supernatural encounters as a child, through her years appearing on Ghost Hunters and the creation of her company Strange Escapes, which offers paranormal excursions to some of America's most notoriously haunted destinations, and into her current work on The Travel Channel's Kindred Spirits, this book is full of astonishing and deeply moving stories of Amy's efforts to better understand the dead but not yet departed. With Amy's bright humor and fierce compassion for both those who are haunted and those who are haunting, Life with the Afterlife is an eye-opening look at what connects us as people, in life and beyond. A USA Today Bestseller

Shawn C. Smallman and Kimberley Brown's popular introductory textbook for undergraduates in international and global studies is now released in a substantially revised and updated third edition. Encompassing the latest scholarship in what has become a markedly interdisciplinary endeavor and an increasingly chosen undergraduate major, the book introduces key concepts, themes, and issues and then examines each in lively chapters on essential topics, including the history of globalization; economic, political, and cultural globalization; security, energy, and development; health; agriculture and food; and the environment. Within these topics the authors explore such diverse and pressing subjects as commodity chains, labor (including present-day slavery), pandemics, human rights, and multinational corporations and the connections among them. This textbook, used successfully in both traditional and online courses, provides the newest and most crucial information needed for understanding our rapidly changing world. New to this edition: *Close to 50% new material *New illustrations, maps, and tables *New and expanded emphases on political and economic globalization and populism; health; climate change, and development *Extensively revised exercises and activities *New resume-writing exercise in careers chapter *Thoroughly revised online teacher's manual

This "graceful, captivating" (New York Times Book Review) story from a singular new talent paints a portrait of grief and the search for meaning as told through the prism of three generations of her Chinese American family—perfect for readers of Helen Macdonald and Elizabeth Alexander. Kat Chow has always been unusually fixated on death. She worried constantly about her parents dying---especially her mother. A vivacious and mischievous woman, Kat's mother made a morbid joke that would haunt her for years to come: when she died, she'd like to be stuffed and displayed in Kat's future apartment in order to always watch over her. After her mother dies unexpectedly from cancer, Kat, her sisters, and their father are plunged into a debilitating, lonely grief. With a distinct voice that is wry and heartfelt, Kat weaves together a story of the fallout of grief that follows her extended family as they emigrate from China and Hong Kong to Cuba and America. Seeing Ghosts asks what it means to reclaim and tell your family’s story: Is writing an exorcism or is it its own form of preservation? The result is an extraordinary new contribution to the literature of the American family, and a provocative and transformative meditation on who we become facing loss. AN NPR BOOKS WE LOVE 2021 PICK * A TIME MUST-READ BOOK OF 2021 PICK * A NEW YORK TIMESNOTABLE BOOK OF 2021 * A HARPER'S BAZAAR BOOK YOU NEED TO READ IN 2021 * A TOWN & COUNTRYBEST BOOK OF 2021 PICK * A FORTUNE BEST BOOK OF 2021 PICK

Do ghosts really exist? Do I have to give money to every beggar who comes along? Is it okay to be cremated? How many times have you asked questions such as these but never took the time to seek the answer? And not just any answer — a Catholic answer! With wit and enthusiasm, Fr. Michael Kerper — a popular Catholic priest in New England — tackles over two dozen such questions in this fast-paced and thoroughly enjoyable book. Read this book, and you’ll soon know the answers to questions such as: Holding hands and kissing: why does everyone do something different at Mass?What is — and isn’t — a heresy?Why doesn’t Pope Francis like pets?What ever happened to Limbo?Why can’t women become priests?Can Catholics believe in reincarnation?Is it okay to be cremated?Why are the psalms so violent?Was Christ really born on Christmas Day?Do ghosts really exist?Why do priests get moved? Fr. Kerper tackles each question head-on, relying on Scripture, tradition, the Catechism, and the writing of the saints. Read this book, and you’ll soon be armed with little-known knowledge that will fascinate and impress all those who have never taken the time to seek the Catholic answer.

Noted psychologist Dr. Edith Fiore explains how to detect spirit possession in yourself and others, how to protect yourself from entities, how to release your home from displaced spirits, and how to perform a depossession. Filled with shocking case histories.